BINTULU: A total of 22,731 registered voters will head to the polls on Saturday (Nov 4) to elect a new representative for the Jepak state constituency.

Fourteen polling centres with 45 polling streams will open at 7.30am. Of these, 11 will close at 5.30pm while three will close early at 4pm.

Prior to this, the Election Commission (EC) had issued 73 postal ballot papers to eligible electors, including 43 police officers and personnel.

The campaign for the by-election lasted for two weeks, starting from Oct 21.

The Jepak by-election is a three-cornered fight between Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) candidate Iskandar Turkee, Parti Bumi Kenyalang’s (PBK) Stevenson Joseph Sumbang and Parti Aspirasi Rakyat Sarawak’s (Aspirasi) Chieng Lea Phing.

The Malaysian Meteorological Department has forecast clear weather in the morning and thunderstorms in some areas in the evening.

EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Ghani Salleh said the commission expects the voter turnout to reach 65 per cent.

When inspecting the EC’s preparation at the vote tallying centre at Dewan Suarah here on Thursday, he said the result is expected to be announced at 9 pm.

The Jepak state by-election was called following the death of its six-term assemblyman Datuk Talib Zulpilip of GPS on Sept 15.

In the 12th Sarawak state election in December 2021, the late Talib retained the seat he had held since 1996 with a 4,243-vote majority. - Bernama